Stuck On You
by QueenAnne
Summary: Back and forth, back and forth--can Brady and Chloe finally find their way through the tension of their first kiss?
1. Stuck...On Brady Black?

Tipping the cool glass of milk up and downing its remaining contents, Brady Black wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and set the tumbler on the kitchen counter with a thunk.  
"Brady! Brady!" Belle yelled as he could hear his younger sister running down the stairs and into the kitchen.  
"Huh?" he answered in a noncommittal grunt. The blonde girl flashed him a lopsided grin as she stuck the abandoned milk glass into the dishwasher.   
"Brady, Chloe's coming over. Can you, like, clear out?" Belle asked, her voice dripping with sweetness that she knew her older, "Tough-guy" brother had a hard time resisting.  
"Clear out? Ha--I'll just stay in here. What, is Chloe scared of me?" he countered sardonically, eliciting a small scowl from Belle.  
"No..." she started carefully, not wanting to say anything she shouldn't. Not that I know what I shouldn't say...I mean, I don't know what's between those two...Belle thought to herself before finishing her sentence. "I just...well, I noticed..." She trailed off. Funny, she just couldn't figure out what to say to Brady about it.  
"You noticed...that Chloe and I tend to go at each other like barracudas sometimes?" Brady finished for her.  
"Uh...yeah...barracudas does seem a very fitting description..." Belle laughed. "Oh come on, Brady...please?"   
"I'm staying in here. Chloe can deal with it. She's a big girl." Belle let out an augh! and mumbled under her breath about "dumb big brothers." Brady just grinned and reached for another glass of milk as she stalked out to answer the doorbell.  
  
"Aw, Shawn...that's so cute. I'm so glad he's home," Belle said into the phone receiver. Chloe rolled her eyes and grinned from her position on Belle's bed. She'd been listening to Belle talk to Shawn about JT for the last 15 minutes...I wish they'd just cut to the chase, admit that they were, like, head over heels for each other and stop bothering the rest of the world! Chloe thought with a smile.  
"No...you hang up first..."  
Oh man. This is bad.  
Chloe shrugged her shoulders and hopped off the bed, ambling downstairs toward the kitchen.  
The door swung open just as she came to it, and soon she was face to face--and, unfortunately, chest to chest--with Brady.   
"Oh...uh, sorry--didn't reali..."  
"Oops, I...I mean...you...I mean..."  
"Sorry," both Brady and Chloe said at the same time. Of course they tried to pass each other, but it appeared that the zipper on his leather jacket had gotten caught on the front of her sweater. Chloe felt her face flame up.  
"Crap...how in the world?" Brady pulled back and looked at the stuck zipper. Then he looked back up at Chloe's face, and this time her blush was mirrored by his. You can't look at her chest, Black, he scolded himself. She's like, 10 years old. Shit.  
"Don't move, Brady," Chloe said. Her voice rang with duh. "If you move, my sweater will rip. And this is my best sweater, okay?"  
Brady could only grin. "So, Chloe, you're dressing up just to see 'lil ole me', huh?" he said cheekily.  
"Augh," Chloe groaned. So what if I was? "Look, lemme see..." she leaned forward and peered at the offending zipper.  
"Chloe?" Belle yelled from upstairs, breaking the silence and tension in the downstairs air. Startled, Chloe reeled and was pulled closer to Brady. The zipper audibly caught on her sweater again, and when she looked up, her face was only a breath away from Brady's.   
"Chloe..." he echoed quietly. Then his lips were on hers in a soft kiss, uncharacteristically...and yet totally Brady.  
Belle stopped short on the landing, spying her best friend and beloved older brother locked in an embrace in the open doorway of the kitchen. Breaking the kiss, Brady gathered Chloe to him, wrapping his arms around her and taking a deep breath in her hair. For the first time in a long while, Belle saw a real smile mark Brady's handsome face as Chloe sighed into his chest. She crept back up the stairs with the smile on her face, and figured it couldn't hurt...to give it time.  
  



	2. Denial?

Two days later, Belle sat on her bed, pondering what she had seen between her brother and Chloe. Unfortunately, she definitely noticed that Chloe and Brady had since avoided each other like the cliched plague.   
She had invited Chloe to dinner the night before...but it was declined after Chloe heard that Brady would be there, too.   
"Uh, Chloe, he sorta lives here too..." Belle had said.  
It was just the same with Brady. Even when Belle was only on the phone with Chloe, he hid out in his room until the conversation had been finished for at least an hour, Belle could swear.  
What is with these two? Belle asked herself. I know what I saw...they were so happy for that one moment. Now what's the problem?  
  
Chloe knew exactly what the problem was. She had even admitted it to herself. She had one thing on her mind: she was afraid of Brady Black.   
Sure, it sounded silly when she said it out loud, that she knew. But she couldn't help being scared of him. He was so much bigger than her--older, stronger, and much more willful. Formidable just about began to describe him. Everytime she was around him, Chloe felt as if he silently taunted her, as if his every move cried out 'I'm better than you are! I'm better than you are!'   
And yet she liked him so much...could she get this to work out? Chloe sighed as she laid back on her bed. She hoped she could--oh, she hoped she could.  
  
The object of Chloe's worries was also considering a lot of issues, too. Brady struggled to always keep his "Tough-Guy" attitude and to always maintain his control of anything. But Chloe...God, Chloe made him want to gather her in his arms and act like some teenager in love. Which was stupid. Man, like he had thought...before the kiss...a traitorous little voice in his head said...she's only a kid. His kid sister's best friend, at that. After he had broken away from the embrace...and pried the offending zipper from her sweater without looking in her eyes...he had only looked back once before rushing from the house. The look in Chloe's eyes was enough to kill him.   
But was he dumb enough to get into a relationship? He didn't need one, that was for certain. And not with someone who hung out with Belle, probably spending her time pouring over fashion magazines while sharing the latest high school gossip.  
He also...knew that, contrary to what his mind said, he wanted a relationship, and with Chloe. How could his heart and his mind disagree? It was practically driving him crazy....she drove him crazy...  
  
Belle didn't knock, only slid in the open doorway to Brady's temporary room. Her brother was so deep in thought, peering into the corner of the ceiling, that he didn't notice her entrance.  
"Brady...Brady?" she said, announcing her presence and giving him a shock. "What were you thinking about?" Belle asked softly.  
"I...uh...thinki...oh, nothing really...yeah, nothing," Brady gave his jumbled answer quickly, his face turning red.  
"OK..." Belle took a minute, staring at him intently before walking back to the door. "Brady...you're...well, maybe I'm overstepping my boundaries...but Brady, you're over analyzing it. If you like her...why not show it?" Belle ducked out the doorway as her groaning big brother hit the closing door with pillows.  
But, considering it futile, Brady merely leaned back and stared at the ceiling once again.  
Maybe I am...what did she say?...over analyzing it. Maybe.  
  
Unfortunately for Brady, he didn't have much of a choice where Chloe was concerned.   
It was only an hour later when, from his room, he heard the doorbell ring.  
"BRADY!!!" Belle's voice rang out from the bathroom down the hall. "Can you get that?" Her voiced dripped with the classic Belle sweetness. Brady groaned, pulling himself off the bed and ambling down the stairs to the front door.  
"Hel--oh," he said, stopping abruptly as the door opened to admit Chloe. "What do you want?"  
Chloe snorted and rolled her eyes.  
"Oh yeah, Chloe, that was real lady-like," Brady mocked her.  
"About as lady-like as you are, Brady," she answered, rolling her eyes once again as stepped past him into the house. Chloe turned back to look at him before she started to ascend the stairwell.  
"Wait, Chlo--" Brady started, then stopped suddenly.  
He could clearly see the emotions in Chloe's eyes. "What...what is it, Brady?"   
"God, Chlo..."  
"I hate that name, Brady," Chloe told him plainly.  
"Fine, *Chlo*, look--I just wanted to talk to you about...whatever it was that..."  
The bland look Chloe shot him did nothing to mask the feelings she was obviously feeling inside, but Brady had to give it to her--she certainly tried hard. "Well, most of the time, Brady, people call it a kiss. Of course, then we hugged, but those are just the technical terms..." she trailed off as Brady's long strides ate up the distance between them. His face was soon a mere inches from hers--Chloe couldn't breathe. It was too eerily like the days before.  
"Whatever it was...I...Chlo...Chloe"  
"CHLOE!!!" Belle practically tumbled down the stairs and into the family room. She surveyed the tableu she saw. Chloe's face was flushed, her breathing shallow and her face a breath away from Brady's. "Oh, uh...I'm sorry. I'll just go back upstairs. I have to, mm, clean the bathroom counter anyway..."  
Chloe broke her gaze away from Belle's brother's. "No, Belle. It's okay." She shot a last look at the boy...man...in front of her. "It looks like there's nothing down here anyway."  
  
  
  



	3. Why Didn't You?

Later that evening, with John and Marlena home from work, Belle, Chloe and Brady sat down to a late dinner with the couple.   
John and Marlena sat at the ends of the table, making small talk concerning happenings at their jobs and local Salem gossip. Both were completely unaware of the tension that emanated between Brady and Chloe, who sat opposite him on Belle's left side.  
"Well, Chloe, it's very nice to have you over this evening," Marlena smiled at her daughter's best friend, who responded in kind.  
"Thanks, Dr. Evans," Chloe said. "At least most of you think so," she added with a glare to the other side of the table. Marlena, who had cocked her head to listen to her husband, did not notice. That left two people who certainly did.   
"So, Brady, what was up with you all day? I hardly saw you--you were holed up in your room," Belle mentioned to her brother.  
"Oh, nothing...just sitting around, over-analyzing this pain in the ass problem," Brady answered, directing his statement across the table, but definitely not to Belle.  
"The only thing that's a pain in the ass is the one idiot who's sitting across from me," Chloe mumbled under her breath.  
"Yeah, mm, okay...well, Chloe, what movie do you want to see tomorrow?" Belle asked, grasping for words to stall the confrontation that appeared to be unavoidable.  
"Oh, I don't know," Chloe told her, "but preferably one where the guy doesn't kiss his sister's best friend and then acts like it was aliens that took over his body when it happened so he doesn't have to deal with it--"  
"Doesn't have to deal with it?!?" Brady exclaimed, his fork and knife clattering unexpectedly on the plate. His dad and Marlena looked up with suprise.  
"Careful, son. Are you okay? Do you need some medication or something?" John asked with concern. Brady waved it off with an "naw, I'm fine," and the two adults excused themselves to take a short walk.  
"Just like he deals with everything else," Chloe shot back suddenly.  
"What in the hell do you mean by that?" he answered, suprise registering on his face.  
"Well see, you act like nothing ever happened, but it did--you just won't face your feelings!" she stated plainly, glaring across the table at him.  
"If I thought I had a reason to face them, I would!" Brady shouted now, "but I'm not about to make a fool of myself if it's not worth it!" Throwing his napkin down next to his plate and shoving his chair back, Brady could be heard hobbling through the family room and out the front door--the slamming of the door was heard throughout the entire house, no doubt.  
"Well. Really, Chloe--you ought to come over more often. That's the fastest he's moved since the accident!" Belle tried to lighten the mood with a laugh.  
*Great. Nothing better than having him improve--it's just that he improved trying to get away from me,* Chloe thought, a bitter smile showing. "Yeah," she said, turning to Belle before getting up from the table. "Wonderful."  
  
He'd been out on the docks since the episode--no, blow up--at dinner. Brady mentally kicked himself as he ambled back to the house. His temper erupted stupidly, and when he least wanted it to. Showing feelings--any feelings--Brady never did that. *With the exception of with Chloe,* he thought wryly, turning the corner and glimpsing a light on at home, one that he knew to be Belle's room. *No doubt they're up there calling Phillip and Shawn, giggling over the phone and pouring over the newest issue of Seventeen,* Brady said to himself.   
"I can't believe I actually said those things!" he said out loud, balling his hands into fists as he neared the house. "How stupid--I might as well have come out and said 'Chloe, I'm in love with you'!"  
"But you didn't, Brady."   
"What the fri--Chloe?! Wha--wait. How much of that did you hear?" he asked her after peering into the darkness of the porch. Chloe sat on the stoop, her arms wrapped around her knees.  
"Why didn't you, Brady?" Chloe asked, not willing to change the subject. "Why didn't you say, 'Chloe, I'm in love with you?' or 'Chloe, I'm really attracted to you,' or 'Would you at least go to the dance with me?' Why didn't you say one of those things, Brady?"  
"Because I--because that's not what I think," he lied blatantly. "Because I--"  
"Because you're afraid of being rejected? What's your problem with that? Everybody gets rejected, Brady."  
"Everybody's not me. I've had enough of that 'everybody this, Brady' and 'everybody that, Brady,' " he said, his mouth twisting into a mimic of those past advisors.   
"I won't reject you. I can't promise not to hurt you, but I won't reject you," Chloe told him, taking the iniative and rising to her feet. She walked over to him, looking right up into his eyes.  
"What if I reject you?" Brady countered, turning away. "What if I don't really feel that way at all? You'd be hurt--really, truly hurt," he told her.  
"And why would you care? Why would you care if I was hurt?" she turned her eyes to his, grabbing onto his shirt sleeve before he could turn away yet again.  
"I care." He left it at that.  
"So do I. But...well, good night, Brady. Sleep well." The door softly closed, returning the porch and front yard to the darkness of before. And Brady sat down where Chloe had, his head in his hands.   
  
  
  



	4. Definitely Not A Morning Person...

Brady looked up from his seat on the family room couch the next morning, holding the remote in his hand as he and his father watched NBC's 'The Today Show'.   
"In other news," the local newscaster announced between segments, "the Salem fire department--" Brady muted the television. Marlena walked quickly down the stairs, passing her husband's briefase to him as they both whisked out the door to their garage with brief "goodbyes" and "have a nice days." Brady nodded curtly as the door shut behind them.   
*This is nice,* he thought to himself, *no one here but me a--*  
"Ah...mm...Brady?" Chloe said, carefully setting her foot on the last stair and stumbling over the words in an early morning haze.  
"Good morning, Ms. Lane," he said in mock gallantry. With a smirk, he went on to tease her once more. "Not a morning person, huh?"  
"What do you think?" she said, her smokey eyes growling at him for her. "Is there any coffee?" Chloe asked slowly.  
"Chloe, you're only, like, 12 years old--it'll stunt your growth, remember?" Brady laughed, leaning back on the couch and setting arm on the back of it.  
"Get. Me. Coffee."  
The look in her eyes was enough. Hightailing it to the kitchen as fast as his cane would allow, he returned--meekly--to say that there was no coffee left in the percolator, and that they were also out of coffee grounds.  
"But you can have mine," Brady said as a peace offering. It took a moment to register in Chloe's mind, but soon a look of surprise glanced over her features.  
"Wow...you're...really nice in the morning, Brady," Chloe told him.  
"Not normally...but I've drunk 3 cups of coffee in the last 10 minutes, and you look like hell--so I figure you deserve it."  
Chloe scowled in return at the backhanded compliment and plopped down, very unladylike, naturally, on the couch next to the man who currently occupied it.  
With a huge yawn, Chloe settled back onto the couch, her neck barely brushing Brady's outstretched hand, which rested behind her.  
*Good lord. Wearing those damn tiny pajamas--those excuses for pajamas--coming down here exhausted and looking like some 70s porn star, and yet looking like the girl next door at the same time--augh! screw her!* Brady insulted her, and then admonished himself.  
*But you know that's what you wanna do, Black* a taunting voice said in his mind.  
*I so have to get out of this--before--before I do something I shouldn't!*  
"Chloe--Chloe!" he lightly shook the shoulders of the girl. "Chloe? Chlo!"  
Brady pulled her slumping form from the couch and looked at her, experiencing a moment of panic. The brunette's eyes were closed lightly, and Brady could tell that she was not feigning sleep like he thought.  
"Chloe Lane!"he said in a loud whisper. Not thinking, Brady laid his hand on her chest, placing it above her heart. Her heartbeat was shallow, and a finger on her pulse reiterated his observation.  
Brady unceremoniously dropped Chloe onto the couch and hobbled up the stairs at a clip, dropping his cane on the way. "Dang it!" he said before grabbing the railing and going on without it.   
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Belle was slowly coming out of her slumber, her eyes heavy and her body warm underneath the comforter of her bed, when her brother bust in.   
"Belle! Belle!" Brady, a sheen of sweat on his forhead, fell beside her bedside and placed a hand on his healing leg. "Belle! Is there something wrong with Chloe?" he questioned.  
"Uh...mm...huh?" the blond said sleepily, rolling over to face him.  
"Is there something wrong with Chloe!" he reiterated, grasping her shoulders.  
"I don't think so....." she mumbled before her eyes opened more and a look of thought crossed her features. "Well, last night she didn't feel well...she said she had a headache...something about falling. I'm not sure what it wa..." with that, Belle drifted back asleep.  
*Oh no. Oh. No.* were the only words running through Brady's mind as he stumbled back down the stairs, grasping his cane as he went to Chloe's side.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. A Beautiful Awakening...one that's his l...

Beep--Beep--Beep--Beep--Beep--Beep--  
Brady woke with a start. The beeping alerted him, and he assumed, in a groggy haze, that it was his regular alarm, waking him at the regular time. However, a heavy lidded look at his surroundings told him that nothing about this was regular.  
Chloe Lane, her body unusually small looking in the white covered hospital bed, lay peacefully now, but Brady couldn't help remembering the emergency room visit early that morning.   
After running Chloe to the hospital--Brady hadn't thought to leave a note for Belle or even call an ambulance--a Dr. Lorrin had quickly revived Chloe, and, after running tests and a head CT, she had told Brady what he suspected, gathering from what Belle had sleepily told him earlier. Chloe had gotten a concussion somewhere, somehow, the prior day, and was very lucky to have not slipped into unconciousness the night before.   
"Hey, Brady," came a soft voice from the bed, and he whipped his head around to look at Chloe. Her eyes, though barely open, were, and Brady went to her bedside to take one of her slender hands in his.  
"How do you feel?" he asked her, his thumb skitting over the IV needle that lay embedded in Chloe's hand.   
"Fine. I'm fine," Chloe told him. Brady shook his head and smiled.  
"Chlo, you're in a hospital, it's not like you have to be brave for *my* sake, good lord," he laughed.  
"No, really, Brady, I'm fine!" she said, her eyes earnest.  
"Are you?" he asked, grasping her hand tighter, like an expectant 5-year-old dragging his mother to the toy store.  
"OUCH!!!" Chloe yelped, swatting his shoulder with her free hand. "That hurts!" Brady looked down at her hand and remember the present needle. Looking back up sheepishly, he apologized before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.  
"I'm just really glad you're okay, Chlo," Brady said as John, Marlena, Belle, Shawn and Craig and Nancy opened the door to the hospital room and everyone started talking at once. Before he faded to the back of the room, Brady glanced a quick kiss on Chloe's forehead. Temptation made him make the 2 steps back to the bedside quickly enough to buffer her pliant lips before anyone noticed, and then he walked past the group into the corridor beyond.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
The red-flashing, signaling clock read 7:20 AM two days later. Brady groaned and rolled back under the sheets, trying desperately to get back into his dream. Chloe had gotten the concussion, and yet he couldn't find her anywhere...and he kept searching, and searching, and no one would help him, so Brady had gone on alone, trying to find her...he knew he was a breath away when he was rudely awakened by...well, what *was* he awakened by?   
*Aw, heck, who cares...* he thought sleepily and tucked himself back into sleep.  
"I don't think so......." came a voice that took seconds to register. With a start, Brady fell out of sleep...and onto the floor.  
Damn. It.   
Chloe cracked up so hard that *she* was practically on the floor. Brady scowled, opening one eye and giving the girl a death glare.   
"Chlo, what the frikkin' hell are you doing here at...this ungodly hour?!?" he growled from the floor.  
Chloe played innocent, opening her gorgeous eyes wide and fixing them on the grown man who had fallen out of bed, trying her best not to burst out laughing. "I don't know, Brady, why *am* I here?"  
With a moan, he untangled himself from the covers and unfolded his long, lean body, clad only in rumpled, drawstring pajama pants, into a standing position. Chloe took one look at the tight, bronzed line of his torso and....quickly back up again. *Okay, Lane...* she told herself, *maybe this wasn't the best of ideas you've ever had...* "Didn't I just ask you that, Chlo?"  
"Yes..."  
Brady reached for his cane, but, as it was on the other side of the bed...he shot a dark glare at Chloe...so he had to pull himself up. *I hate this morning thing...* Brady thought sourly. He was *definitely* not a morning person.   
A split second later, Chloe was trapped between his two arms.   
"What are you doing here, Chloe?" he said between his teeth, his eyes still sleepy looking, and his brow loose.  
Chloe leaned up and blew a cold breath against his lips. "We're spending the day together."  
With a resigned look, Brady dropped back to the floor.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
"Okay, I have, like, one or two errands to run, but other than that, we're free to do whatever we want," Chloe said happily, sitting on the edge of Brady's bed a bit later.  
"Turn around." She turned around. "Okay, Chlo, what are you *really* doing this for?" Brady asked.   
"You really wanna know, Brady?" she asked. "Oh, wait, is it okay to turn around?"   
"Yes, I wanna know, and yes, you can turn around now." Chloe shifted on the bed to face him.  
"I want to spend the day with you. We always fight, we can never communicate right, we're always at each other's throats and we drive those around us crazy. But I still want to spend the day with you...fight free, of course," Chloe told him honestly.  
*Does she know how beautiful she is? Sitting on my bed...all innocent, sitting on those sheets that I just slept in...there's something so wierd about that...dang it, she's amazingly beautiful.*  
"Fine, Chloe. Whatever you...want."  
"I want you, Brady Black, I want you..." Chloe muttered under her breath, and Brady stopped in the doorway.  
"What did you say, Chloe?" His bright, now awake, eyes, looked at her with a mix of expectation and teasing.  
"Oh, nothing, Brady...nothing."  
  



	6. What is it with Us and Zippers?

"So, Brady, I didn't get the chance to thank you for taking me to the hospital the other morning," Chloe said as they drove to Salem Place in his van--"that hideous monster," as Chloe and Belle had earlier dubbed it.  
Brady actually blushed *What am I, some school girl!* he admonished himself, and hated himself for it. "It was nothing. I couldn't exactly let you lay there unconcious, you know..."  
Chloe laid a pink-fingernailed hand on his arm. "No, Brady, you could have called an ambulance, or you could have called your dad or Marlena, but you took the time and pain to carry me out to the car, without your cane, and take me in. I honestly can't thank you enough!"  
"Yeah, well, uh, nothing to it, Chlo," Brady trailed off uncomfortably, *very* thankful that the couple drove up to and parked in a nearby parking lot. Before she could do it, and out of sheer habit, Brady went around to her side and opened the van door, helping Chloe out of the car.  
"Thanks, Brady," she told him with a smile, and Chloe looked up into the tall man's eyes.  
"Stop thanking me, Chlo, okay?" Brady said in exasperation.  
*Well well well...fiesty, huh, Brady? Don't worry--Everything'll work out. And then we'll be together, and you'll be thanking me,* Chloe thought sweetly, a grin coming across her face as Brady grasped her hand protectively and pulled her across the quiet street.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"So, what do you think?" the brunette asked, coming out of a slat-doored dressing room. Her hands smoothed the skirt before Chloe turned to face him.  
Brady, pulling his eyes from the USA Today in front of him, soon found it hard to look away. His jaw went slack at how gorgeous she was. Looking like a sweet teen star of a '50s movie, the black and white-dotted dress was shaped with a 'princess' skirt that fell to her knees, revealing shapely calves. Looking very reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Brady knew he had never seen any girl look lovelier.  
"Um, yeah. Cute..." he said curtly, glancing into the mirror beyond her and then back down at his paper.   
"Oh come *on*, Brady...I really wanna buy this dress, and I want to know what someone else thinks!" Chloe told him, her arms akimbo and a look of consternation crossing her features.  
"If you *want* to buy it, Chloe, then go ahead and buy it!!! Doesn't matter what else you want!" Brady answered, needlessly biting.  
Chloe was halfway back into the dressing room when she stopped, her hand on the doorframe, and looked back at him.  
"Not even if I want you?  
Had something been in his mouth, Brady would have choked. Had he been up, walking around, Brady would have tripped and probably broken a leg...or two. Had there been something close by, Brady would have hit her with it.  
As not one of those three were happening, his jaw dropped for the second time in less than ten minutes. "Wh--what di--what did you say?" he finally got out, grasping the arm of the chair, in sudden need of support of some kind.  
"I said," Chloe began clearly and clipped, "Not even if I want you?" At the lack of response, she posed another question. "Well? Didn't you realize it?"  
Something in Brady's chest felt tight, and yet it was the feeling he'd felt lately.  
"I think...I think that I did," he said slowly again.   
Another silence passed, what Chloe would have normally broken with a statement regarding the 'pregnant pause' that hung in the air, and it turned out to be she that *did* break the silence.  
"Stop looking at me like that, Brady! All I said is that I want you...but sheesh! If you don't want me back, I can deal with that perfectly!" Chloe told him, turning back into the dressing room. Five minutes later, a small tap came from the inside of the small cubicle. "Uh...mm...Brady?"  
Brady looked up, his face coming from the cradle of his hands as he leaned with his elbows upon his knees.  
"What, Chlo?"  
"Well, see, I know that this is probably awkward, but...I can't get this dress unzipped..." Chloe trailed off in a soft voice. Brady couldn't help but laughing as he made his way to the door and slowly opened it, hanging on to the doorframe the second he saw her halfway bare back.  
Suddenly, he couldn't find any type of thing to say...not even the weather, not even a crack about having to spend the day with her...nothing. "Uh...yeah," was all that Brady could get out, grasping the tiny zipper between his fingers and taking a step closer to the girl in front of him.  
Chloe's breath, already shallow, hitched as his knuckles made the lightest brush against her bare back, struggling with the small clasp, trying to pull the offending fabric free. "Heh...what is it about us a zippers?" she said uncertainly in an attempt to lighten the tension in the unusually small space.  
Brady's thoughts were going a million miles a minute, and yet...all he could think off was the amazing feel of her smooth, soft skin. But he knew he had to get out of that dressing room in two seconds flat...before anything else happened. Brady grasped the small zipper in his hand one more time and pulled. Nothing happened.  
"Chloe, I know this may sound a little wierd," she laughed at that, "but when I pull up, you go down, okay?" he told her, with a sheepish grin and a red face he was thankful that she could not see.  
"Mm...okay, Brady, whatever..."  
They tried that once, then twice, without the desired result. "One more time," he told her, and her head bobbed up and down.  
Her bare skin felt like it was burning his hands, and his breathing was shallow just from looking at her neck, his fingers itching to touch its smooth line.  
Both Brady and Chloe played a tug-of-war with the zipper, until Chloe warned him seconds before she moved to the side.  
"Okay, Brady, if the fabric's caught on the right side of the zipper, I'll move...around to the left, I think, okay?" Chloe didn't wait for him to nod, just turned when she felt him pull the zipper for the fourth time.  
The zipper unstuck with a small rip, and the force of both the turn and the pull landed Chloe nose to chest with Brady, and would have fallen onto the small stool...had his arms not been locked tightly around her.   
"Brady," Chloe breathed, looking up into his eyes honestly. "Was that so hard?"  
He had to shake his head for a second to figure out what was going on. He knew how he felt, Brady told himself, and...well, he was pretty sure he knew how she felt. The only thing that was hard was convincing himself that it was okay to feel that way.  
One look into her eyes had him throwing that away for the second time, not something he did easily.  
"Being without you would be, Chloe Lane. Not doing this would be even worse." With that, Brady leaned down, brushing a soft kiss over her lips and back, tightening his arms around her. "I'm never letting you go, Chloe," Brady told her as he rained tender kisses on her jaw, before kissing her with a passion Chloe knew only Brady had in him.  
"See to it that you don't, Brady Black. Make sure you never let me go," she sighed. Things would be better with Brady, Chloe knew. All in one was a kindred spirit, a passion equal to hers and an incredible love that only her heart would know of, for now. But it was obvious that that love was shared by the man who held her in his arms, and neither the love, nor Brady, showed any sign of stopping.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"The Cinderella really does get her prince, doesn't she, Belle?" Chloe asked her best friend that evening, lying face up on Belle's bed. The other girl smiled from her desk.   
"No better prince to get, my lady," Belle said teasingly, tossing her a pillow.  
"You're only saying that because he's your brother!" Chloe protested, still grinning at the events of the afternoon giddily.   
"No, I'm saying that because you're happy. He may be my brother, but he happens to be a total beast sometimes," she told Chloe. "Speaking of, I think there's someone downstairs for you, Chloe."  
Belle merely laughed as Chloe jumped from the bed and took off downstairs like a little kid at Christmastime.   
Brady laughed too as she skidded to a halt at the bottom of the stairs and attempted to straighten her appearance. "Oh c'mon, Chlo, I don't mind," he said, smiling. Her face lit up uncharacteristically, and she practically jumped from the bottom of the stairs into his arms.  
But Brady shied away from her mouth, pushing her hair back and placing a restraining hand on her shoulder when she moved closer to him.   
"Uh, Brady?"  
"Uh, Chloe?"  
"What are you doing?" she asked him, her eyebrows cocked quizzically.  
"Wait, just a second, Chloe," Brady told her, a gentle finger placed on her lips. The doorbell rang, and into the family room walked John, Marlena, Shawn, Belle, and as many people as Brady could find, each individual carrying a dozen, ribbon-tied roses. She could hardly contain her delight, but pointed an accusing finger at Belle.   
"How'd *you* get down here???" Chloe questioned her. Belle, roses still in hand, raised both in surrender.   
"Well, Chloe," Belle laughed, "you were a little busy...so it certainly didn't take much to get out of the front door without your noticing..." she said, stopping when she realized Chloe's attention was already back to Brady.  
"You..." Chloe told him, a grin in her eyes but a look of consternation trying to cross her face.   
"Before you yell, Ms. Lane, look at the flowers!" That was the only hint he needed to give her, and without further ado, Chloe ran to glimpse into every bouquet.  
"Phantom of the Opera..." She looked at him once, and Brady nodded.  
"Go on," he prompted the brunette.  
"Fiddler on the Roof...you!...Aspects of Love, Chicago...Brady, you're gonna get it!...oh lord, Brady...Puccini??? Chloe stared aghast at her...*what?* she asked herself, musing at the thought. *Boyfriend? Lover? Some person that I made out with in a dressing room yesterday?* The last came with a wry grin at Brady, and she leapt into his arms once again, hugging him and nuzzling into the smoothe-shaven skin of his neck.   
Everyone laughed at the joy obvious on Chloe's face, something that many hadn't seen in quite a while. Brady's smile was the largest, and the 'tough-guy' felt a tugging at his heart that even Belle didn't produce, and he knew everything was perfect.  
"But, wait...how did you...where in the world did you get the money for all these? I mean, these are Broadway!!!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling back and gazing into his eyes.  
"He took out a loan of good confidence," John cut in, and Brady nodded.   
"If I clean my room, I don't have to pay him back," he laughed, and Chloe joined him. "See this, you guys?" Brady addressed the group still gathered in the room, and Chloe pushed at him, a look of both amusement and embarassment on her face.   
"Brady!" she laughed.  
"See this girl? She is," he looked into her gorgeous eyes, "the most wonderful, amazing girl in the world. Chloe Lane is in my arms..."  
"...and all, Brady, is right with the world," the object of his admiration finished. They never took the time to notice everyone leaving, just the two of them, surrounded by their own glow of love.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Epilogue Note from the Author

Hi everybody, and thank you so much for reading my first Days fanfic! I'm already dying to write another one...but on another subject, or another couple. Please--in your review, tell me what you wanna see! Thanks!!!  



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